Fender for cars or other vehicles.



PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904. I

BEST AVALALE CGP.v

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 2s, 1904.

FENDER FOR GARS 0R OTHER VEHICLES.

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EEST AVAMELE C-@E EATEETEDAUG. 23.--1904.

W. E. GREEN. EENDEE EGE GEES 0E OTEEE VEHICLES.

APPLIOATION FILED IAN. 26. 1904.

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BEST AVALABLE CO?" PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

W. L. GREEN. FENDER POR CARS OR OTHER VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1904.

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NO MODEL.

essi AvAiLAsLE COP" UNITED STATES Patented August 23, 1904.

VILLIAM L. GREEN, OF VVALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

FENDER FOR CARS 'OR OTHER VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent No. 768,277, dated August 23, 1904.

Application filed January 26,1904.

To (all 7,071,0771, t muy concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM L. GREEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in VValtham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fenders for Cars or other Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionA relates to fenders adapted more particularly for street railway cars which are propelled by power other than horsepower. ln most car-fenders if a person standing on the track is struck by the fender he falls, landing either on the fender or on the pavement. In case he lands on the fender he is liable in many fenders to roll or fall off ontov the pavement.

This invention has for its principal object to produce a fender in which when a person standing on the track is struck the impact of the fender causes its parts to immediately embrace, partially surround, and grasp the body of the person at a point below the shoulders while he is still substantially erect and hold him in that position until the car has been stopped by the motorman. By this means the person who is thus grasped cannot fall and thereby bring his head incontactwith the fender or bumper or bumper-guard, if there is one, and of course cannot fall and strike the pavement. 4

The nature of the invention is fully described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved fender applied to a car, a portion of which is illustrated in its ordinary or normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the fender in the position assumed when grasping or holding a person. who was standing on the track and touched by the fender. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3, Fig. 1. Fig. L is a vertical section taken on line 4, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5, Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

1 represents a portion of the floor or platform of a street-car, 2 is the forward portion of the platform or the bumper, 6 is the dash- Serial No. 190,696. (No model.)

board, 7 one of the beams, and 8 the steps, all constructed substantially as usual. Dotted lines in the figures indicate the location of the track.

Rigidly supported by suitable hangers or bars 9 at its op posite ends is the ordinary horizontal cross-bar 10, located below the platform, as shown in Fig. 3. Swiveled at 11 to the cross-bar at points a short distance from and on opposite sides of the center, near their rear ends, are boxes or housings consisting' of the lower horizontal portions 12, the parallel upper portions 13, and the side walls 14, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, whereby a slideway is provided between the upper and lower portions and between the said walls of the boxes for the reception of the two forwardly-extending bars 15. The lower portion 12 of each box is'extended forward at 16 to accommodate a strap 17, which is connected by an eye 18 and chain 19 withvsuitable eyes or staples 20, Fig. 3, secured centrally to the body of the car. rlhese chains and straps operate to support the forward end of the boxes, and hence the sliding bars 15. (See Fig. 5.) These bars are prevented from withdrawing from the boxes by suitable stops 21, which extend downward from the rear ends thereof behind the boxes.

To the forward end of each bar is securely bolted an upright 22, braced with the bar 23, and to each upright at a point about midway of its height is secured a bracket 211. These two brackets have pivotally secured to them at the opposite ends of a toggle-joint 26, the inner ends of whose parts are curved outward at 27 to their pivotal connection 28, so that the central pivot in the .joint is a little forward of the center-that is, of a longitudinal line drawn through the toggle. 'The upper ends of the uprights 22 are provided with pivot-pins 29, which extend into curved slots 30 in segments 31, the opposite ends of said segments being pivoted at 32 to the forward ends of two crossing bars 33, the rear ends of which are pivoted at 3e to the forward portions of two substantially parallel rigid horizontal supports 35, restingon and secured to the horizontal arms 36, bolted to the portion 2 of the car-body. Secured to the under sur- IOO naar Avait/tete coe sents a latch or lockinglever, pivoted at 40 to,

the top 13 of one of the boxes, Fig. 5, and 41 is a vertical pin extending up from the top of one of the other boxes, A spring 43, extending from the rear end of this latch to an eye 44, secured to .the box, holds theforward plain end 42 of the latch normallyl against the pin 41. Teeth 45 are provided for the purpose below specified.

Secured tothe under side of the cross-bar 10 near its opposite ends' are hinges-46, "whose forward leaves are secu-red toiand support a' swinging guard-47, the forward edges of said hinges being provided with rol-ls'48, as indicated in Figs. 1,2, and 3. To the upper surface of this guardis securediaplate 49, to which is hinged at 50, Fig.-3, a catch 51, whichl rests normally ona short horizontal spreaderbar 52, Figs. 1 and 3, whoseendsiabut against and hold normally'apart the forward ends of the boxes, which support thebars 15 by means of small notches 53 in the inner edges of said boxes. Pivotally securedat'54 to across-bar 55, secured to and resting on. 'the horizontal supports 36,is a tripping-lever 6, whose lower end extends down next the catch 51.

The operation of the device isas follows: The fender being in the position indicated in Fig. 1, a person 'standing on the track in front of an approaching car provided with this lfender will be struckl by thetoggle-'26. The effeet is of course that the joint of the toggle ispushed rearward toward the car, atl first slightly spreading or forcing apart the' bars 15 and their boxes 1213 14 on the pivots 11, thus releasing the spreader-bar 52, which `is held at its end by friction yonly in the-notches 53 in the boxes. The joint of the toggle having operated to release the' parts' from the spreading bar (which rdrops to the ground) by this slight outward pressure; the continued rearward movement of the joint of the toggle produced by striking the person presses said joint in beyond thecenter, drawing' the forward ends of the bars 15 toward each other, being aided by the springs 57, until'the parts are in the position indicated lin Fig-2', the pivots 29 having `moved along the slots 30 vand over the teeth on the springs 38. iIn this 'position it will be seen that the' person stands fianked by the two parts of the toggle '-26 and the bars 15, while in frontI and behindzh-im are the crossed bars 33 and the segments'31.` He is therefore almost entirely surrounded, being confined by the said parts, which are'at such a height that they grasp his body below the shoulders, so that he is supported ina substantially erect position and cannot fall to the pavementfand thus become injured, o r fall vof the boxes and to the crossbar 10.

upon the fender with a great probability of injury, especially to the head, while the niotorman is stopping the car. Duri ng the abovedescribed operation and at the time that the bar 52 is freed and dropped the dropping of the bar releases the catch 51, thereby causing the guard 47 to swing down and constitute a wheel-guard, the roll 43 traveling over the road-bed or track. As the bars swing inward the teeth 45 on the latch 39 are brought into engagement with the pin 41, thus locking the ,parts Vin the above-deseribed-closed position ,aided by thesprin-gs 57, Figs. 1 and 2, whose opposite ends are secured-t0 the -rear portions If desirable, the motorman can release the bar 52, and hence cause the wheel-guard 47 to swing down by reaching over the dashboard andpushing forward the handle of the lever 56', thus knocking the catch 51 off the bar 52.- To restore the parts to their original position, the bars 15 are spread until the toggle holds xthem rigidly and the spreader-bar 52 is picked up and restored toits original position.

yWhen not in use, the lfender can be slid back by means of the slideways in the bars 12 13 14, first folding `the parts into the closed position indicated in Fig. 2. In case a bar 15 or bracket 24 is struck by a 'team they will slide back vby means of said slideway and prevent breakage of the fender.

Having ,thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Ina-fender, a pair-of bars extending horizontallyforwa-rd from and pivotall y connected with the'car or vehicle, and with their forward ends in a normally open or spread position; and mechanism connecting the forward portions of the said bars and adapted tobe pushed rearward by contact with ay person in front thereof, andl by such rearward movement to draw the forward ends of said bars toward i each other and on opposite sides of said person, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a fender, a pair of bars extending horizontallyforward from and pivotally connected with the'car or vehicle, and with their forward I ends in a normally open or spread position;

and mechanism connecting the forwlard portions-of the said bars and adapted to `be pushed rearward by contact with a personv in front thereof, and by such rearward movement to draw the forward ends of said bars toward each-other and on opposite sides of said person, said bars and connecting mechanism being located at such heights as tov f,- i port said person below the shoulders, for purpose set forth.

3. In a fender, a pair of bars ex*` yling horizontally forward from and pivo :.cnnected with the car or vehicle, and with then` forward ends in a normally open orspread position; a pair of crossed bars pivotally connected with the car orv vehicle at their rear ends; mechan- TOO IIO

. of said normally'spread-bars and adapted` by '..fzvm will. snrinterrnediate of the forward ends of said -crossed bars and the spread-bars whereby indirect pivotal connections are provided between the outer ends of said sets o f bars; and mechanism connecting the forward' portions being moved rearward to draw said forward portions toward each other, and to draw the forward portions of the crossed bars toward each other in a less degree, for the purpose set forth.V A l q 4. In a fender, the normally spreading horizontal bars 15 pivotally connected near their rear ends with the car or vehicle; the toggle-V joint 26 pivotally connected withthe forward ends of said bars; and mechanism for holding said bars normally spread at their forward portions, for the purpose set forth.

- 5. Inafender, thenorrnallyspreading horizontal bars l pivotally connected near their rear. ends with the car or vehicle; the togglejoint 26 provided with the forwardly-extending portions 27 at the joint; the uprights 22 extending from the said bars; the brackets 24 on isaid bars and pivotally connected with the opposite ends of said toggle; and` mechanism for holding said bars normally spread lat their forward portions, for the purpose set forth'.

6. In a fender, the spreading bars l5;`theJ boxes 12, 13 and 111 supporting said spreading bars and pivotally connected at their rear ends to the car or vehicle, and vprovided withl notches 53; the crossed bars 33 pivotally connected at their outer ends with the car or vehicle; the uprights 22 connecting the outer ends of the spreading bars and crossed bars;I

the slotted segments 31 pivotally connected at their opposite ends with said crossed Vbars.V

and uprights; the-brackets 24 extending-from theuprights; the toggle 26 connecting said brackets; a rod or bar extending from one box to the other for the purpose of holding them apart, and its ends resting in said notches; and springs operating to hold the spreading` I bars in engagement with the bar in the notches,

. for the purpose set forth.

essi ,lumai-veis' corr 7. Inafender, theboxes 12, 13, 14 pivotally connected with the car or vehicle; the spreading bars sliding in said boxes, the uprights .22 -extending fromjsaid bars; the toggle 26, 27 connecting the uprights; the spring-latch ,l 39 provided with the teeth 15 and swiveled 'other pair of bars pivotally connected with and extending forward'from the ear or vehicle, the said pairs of bars being at different and a toggle extending' substantially horizontally from oneof thelsaid vertical connections tothe other, for the purpose set forth.

upper.cross-bar supported by the car or vehicle; `the lower cross-bar 1Q supported by the car or vehicle; the wheel-guard 47 pivotally hinged 'tosaid wheel-guard; the tripping-le- Ver extending ,down from the cross-bar 55 'next to said catch; spreading bars adapted to be operated by the impact of the fender upon `a person; and the spreader-bar 52 supported holding up the catch, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

In testimony whereof I have signed rny name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' WILLIAM L. GREEN Witnesses A HENRY W. WILLIAMS, A; K. Hoon.

' 9. In a fender of the character described, the

ward ends in a'normally spread position; an-

heights; substantially 'vertical vconnections vbetweenthe outer ends of said pairs of bars;

supported by the cross-bar 10, the catch 51 y (by said spreading bars, and itself normally 

